It’s that time of the year again, no not Christmas when good will and cheer spills over into everyday living, but rather when all the motoring magazines and websites have a flurry of activity to compete with each other to announce their winners of their versions of the Car of The Year Awards. It seems like there has been a new set of awards each week during November and December.
However it has always struck us here at OzRoamer as just a little strange that COTY winners should be announced before the year is actually finished. This is particularly evident this year when there have been a number of significant releases of new vehicles in December, after the award season has finished.
So as we always seem to do things just a little differently here at OzRoamer to give our readers maximum information and benefit, our awards for 2012 will be announced on February 15 2013 in the special edition of OzRoamer 4WD and SUV Guide 2012 . This way we can actually assess all relevant vehicles for our awards.
The criteria for our awards is simple
• The vehicle must be available for sale to the general public at year’s end
• The vehicle must meet the criteria for its category
• Final contenders are selected by the panel
• Each vehicle is subjectively and objectively measured against its competitors in the category and the one with the most points wins
• That the judging criteria reflects real life situations because you our readers buy these vehicles for use in similar situations.
• That the awards assist our readers make educated buying decisions, and
• Advertising dollars and marketing hype doesn’t sway the eventual winners or even the contenders
So to the categories and contenders! This year there are 12categories and over 40 contenders for various awards.
OzRoamer Sports SUV of the Year 2012
• Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8
• Subaru Forester S Edition
• BMW X5 M50d
OzRoamer AWD SUV of the Year 2012 less than $45,000
• Mitsubishi ASX AWD Aspire Diesel
• Hyundai ix35 Highlander 2.0R Auto
• Yeti 4×4 112TSI DSG
OzRoamer AWD SUV of the Year 2012 between $45,001 and $60,000
• Mazda CX5 GT
• Kia Sportage Platinum
• Mitsubishi Outlander Aspire DiD Premium
• Skoda Octavia Scout Premium 103 TDi DSG
OzRoamer AWD SUV of the Year 2012 over $60,001 to $100,000
• BMW X3 3.0d
• Audi Q5 3.0TDi
• Volvo XC60 T6 AWD Teknik
OzRoamer 7 Seat 4WD of the Year 2012 UP TO $70,000
• Mitsubishi Challenger XLS
• Holden Colorado 7 LTZ
• Nissan Pathfinder STL Diesel
OzRoamer 7 Seat 4wd of the Year 2012 over $70,001
• Toyota Landcruiser GXL Diesel
• Toyota Prado Kakadu Turbo Diesel
• Mitsubishi Pajero Exceed DiD
• Landrover Discovery 4 SDV6 SE
OzRoamer 7 Seat AWD SUV of the Year 2012 less than $60,000
• Kia Sorento Platinum
• Hyundai Santa Fe Highlander
• Ford Territory TX AWD
• Toyota Kluger KX-S
OzRoamer 7 Seat AWD SUV of the Year 2012 over $60,001
• Mazda CX9 GT
• Ford Territory Titanium AWD
• Toyota Kluger Grande
• Volvo XC90
OzRoamer Dual Cab Ute of the Year 2012
• Mitsubishi Triton GLX-R
• Nissan Navara D40 STX 550
• Holden Colorado LTZ
• Isuzu D Max LSU
• Ford Ranger XLT
• Mazda BT50
OzRoamer Prestige 4WD & AWD SUV of the Year 2012 over $100,000
• Porsche Cayenne S
• Lexus LX570
• Mercedes Benz ML500
• Mercedes Benz GL Wagon
OzRoamer 4wd of the Year 2012 less than $70,000
• Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo V6 Diesel
• Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
• Toyota FJ Cruiser
• Suzuki Grand Vitara Diesel
• Plus all other 4wd vehicles nominated within other categories
OzRoamer 4WD of the Year 2012 over $70,001
• Toyota LC70 GXL Wagon
• Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland V6 Diesel
• Toyota GXL 200 Landcruiser V8 Diesel
• Plus all other 4wd vehicles nominated within other categories
Stay tuned for the results and some surprises in the Special edition of OzRoamer SUV and 4WD Guide 2012 in February 2013.
